First Previous (PART III. Management of the Shannon Fisheries.)

4 1935

SHANNON FISHERIES ACT, 1935

PART IV.

Miscellaneous and General.

Advances by the Minister for Finance.

13. —(1) The Minister for Finance may (subject to the provisions of this section) advance out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof to the Board, as and when requested so to do by the Board, all such sums as the Minister shall from time to time certify to be reasonably and properly required by the Board for any purpose arising in the performance of its functions under this Act.

(2) All advances made to the Board under this section shall, for the purposes of section 1 of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1934 (No. 6 of 1934), but for no other purpose, be deemed to be advances made under section 3 of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1931 (No. 32 of 1931), and the said section 1 shall apply accordingly.

(3) Sub-sections (4) and (5) of section 12 of the Act of 1927 shall apply in relation to advances made to the Board under this section as if such advances were made under the said section 12.

(4) All advances made to the Board under this section shall, for the purposes of sections 13, 14 and 16 of the Act of 1927 as amended by any subsequent enactment, be deemed to be made under that Act, and those sections as so amended shall apply in respect of such advances accordingly.

(5) All moneys payable by the Board to the Minister for Finance under or by virtue of this section shall, in so far as such moneys relate to advances made under this section for the purposes of Part II of this Act, be defrayed out of the income of the Board derived from the performance of its functions under the Act of 1927, and, in so far as such moneys relate to advances made under this section for the purposes of Part III of this Act, be defrayed out of the income of the Board derived from the performance of the duties in relation to the Shannon fisheries imposed on the Board by the said Part III.

Assessment of compensation or price.

14. —(1) The amount of any price or compensation payable by the Board under this Act shall, in default of agreement, be fixed under and in accordance with the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919, as modified by this Act, and, in the case of compensation, in like manner as if such compensation were the price of land compulsorily acquired.

(2) When the price to be paid by the Board for any property is being assessed in pursuance of this section, no regard shall be had to anything which was done or occurred in relation to such property on or after the 1st day of October, 1929, whereby the value of such property was increased, decreased or otherwise affected.

(3) When the price to be paid by the Board for a fishery or fishing right is being assessed in pursuance of this section and it is shown to the satisfaction of the arbitrator that the owner of such fishery or fishing right or a person entitled to a portion of such price by virtue of his having an estate or interest in such fishery or fishing right worked such fishery or exercised such fishing right personally by his own skill and labour and that the profits derived from such working or exercise formed the whole or a substantial part of the livelihood of such owner or person, the arbitrator shall add to and include in the price so payable to such owner or to the portion thereof so payable to such person (as the case may be), as assessed under the provisions of this Act other than this sub-section, such sum as appears to the arbitrator to be a reasonable compensation for the whole or partial (as the case may be) loss of livelihood suffered by such owner or person in consequence of the acquisition of such fishery or fishing right by the Board, regard being had to the likelihood of such owner or person being able, in the circumstances of his case, to transfer his skill and labour to some other profitable occupation.

(4) Sections 69 to 83 of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, shall apply to any compensation payable by the Board under this Act, and to the price to be paid by the Board for any property purchased by the Board under this Act, and the conveyance to the Board of such property, and for the purpose of such application the Board shall be deemed to be the promoter of the undertaking.

Compensation to certain fishery employees.

15. —(1) Whenever a fishery or a fishing right is acquired (whether compulsorily or by agreement) by the Board under this Act, every person who proves to the satisfaction of the Board or of the arbitrator all the following matters, that is to say:—

(a) that during the whole or substantially the whole of each of the three complete open fishing seasons next before such acquisition, he was constantly and regularly employed at a weekly wage in or about the working of such fishery or the exercise of such fishing right, and

(b) that he was so employed by a person or the predecessor in title of a person entitled to receive the price or a portion of the price payable by the Board in respect of such acquisition, and

(c) that the wages received by him in respect of such employment formed the whole or a substantial part of his livelihood while he was so employed, and

(d) that his said employment related exclusively to the working of such fishery or the exercise of such fishing right, and

(e) that he was not regularly employed outside the open fishing season by the person by whom he was so employed during the open fishing season,

shall (subject to the provisions of this section) be entitled to be paid by the Board compensation in respect of his loss of employment by reason of the said acquisition of such fishery or fishing right by the Board.

(2) The compensation payable to any person under this section shall be calculated as follows, that is to say, for every complete open fishing season during which such person complied with all the conditions mentioned in the next preceding sub-section of this section, such person shall receive a sum equal to four times the average weekly wage received by such person in respect of such employment during the complete fishing season next before the said acquisition of the said fishery or fishing right by the Board, but subject to the overriding limitation that such compensation shall not in any case exceed fifty-two times the said average weekly wage.

(3) A person shall not be entitled to any compensation under this section in relation to the acquisition of a fishery or a fishing right by the Board where it is shown to the satisfaction of the arbitrator that by reason of an undertaking by the Board to continue the employment of such person or for any other reason such person will suffer no loss or diminution of employment in consequence of such acquisition.

Officers and servants of the Board.

16. —The duty of appointing officers and servants which is imposed on the Board by section 8 of the Act of 1927, shall extend to and include the appointment of officers and servants for the purposes of this Act, including the performance by the Board of the duties in relation to the Shannon fisheries imposed on the Board by Part III of this Act, and the said section 8 shall apply to every officer and servant so appointed.

Obligation of the Board to keep accounts.

17. —(1) The obligation imposed on the Board by section 7 of the Act of 1927 to keep accounts of money received or expended by the Board shall extend to and apply in respect of moneys received or expended by the Board under this Act or received or expended by the Board in the performance of the duties in relation to the Shannon fisheries imposed on the Board by Part III of this Act, but subject to the modification that separate and distinct accounts shall be kept under the said section 7 in relation to the moneys to which that section is applied by this section.

(2) All the provisions of section 7 of the Act of 1927 shall apply to the accounts kept by the Board under that section in relation to moneys to which that section is applied by this section.

Obligation of the Board to furnish reports and statistics.

18. —(1) The report required by section 32 of the Act of 1927 to be made by the Board in each year shall extend to and include the proceedings of the Board under this Act during the year to which such report relates, including the proceedings of the Board in the performance of the duties in relation to the Shannon fisheries imposed on the Board by Part III of this Act.

(2) The obligation to furnish statistics and returns imposed on the Board by section 32 of the Act of 1927 shall extend to and include statistics and returns in relation to the proceedings of the Board under this Act.

Closing of free gap in weirs in the waters of the Shannon fisheries.

19. —(1) The Minister for Agriculture may, if he thinks fit, at any time by order authorise the Board, for the purpose of acquiring statistical information and the purpose of carrying out scientific investigations or for either of those purposes, to close, at such times, during such periods, and in such manner as he may specify in such order, the free gap in any specified weir in the waters of the Shannon fisheries.

(2) Whenever the Minister for Agriculture by order under this section authorises the Board to close the free gap in any weir in the waters of the Shannon fisheries, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

(a) notwithstanding anything contained in the Fisheries Acts, 1842 to 1925, it shall be lawful for the Board to close such free gap under and in accordance with such order;

(b) section 10 of the Fisheries (Ireland) Act, 1845 shall not apply in respect of any obstruction placed in such free gap by the Board under and in accordance with such order.

Discharge of water through Parteen Villa weir.

20. —The Board shall not, without the previous consent of the Minister, permit the rate of discharge of water through the weir at Parteen Villa to be less at any time than ten cubic metres per second.

Membership of the Board of Conservators for the Limerick Fishery District.

21. —The number of members of the Board of Conservators for the Limerick Fishery District to be elected in each of the two tidal electoral divisions of that district at the triennial election of such members held next after the passing of this Act and at every subsequent such election shall be three members and no more, and the number of members of the said Board of Conservators shall be modified accordingly as from the commencement of the term of office of the members of the said Board of Conservators elected at the said triennial election held next after the passing of this Act.

Alteration of weekly close season.

22. —(1) Section 20 of the Salmon Fishery (Ireland) Act, 1863, shall have effect in relation to the tidal waters of the River Shannon within the meaning of the Fisheries Acts, 1842 to 1925, as if the words “the succeeding Tuesday morning” were substituted in that section for the words “the succeeding Monday morning” now contained therein.

(2) The Minister for Agriculture may by order vary as he shall think proper, in respect of the said tidal waters of the River Shannon, the weekly close season fixed in respect of those waters by the said section 20 of the Salmon Fishery (Ireland) Act, 1863, as amended by this section, but shall not by any such order increase the said weekly close season to more than seventy-two hours nor reduce the said weekly close season to less than forty-eight hours.

Restriction on number of certain fishing licences.

23. —(1) The number of licences for fishing with drift nets in the tidal waters of the River Shannon within the meaning of the Fisheries Acts, 1842 to 1925 which shall be issued under those Acts in the first year in which the open season for such fishing commences after the passing of this Act or in any subsequent year shall not exceed seventy, and the number of licences for fishing with draft nets or seines in the said waters which shall be issued under the said Acts in any such year shall not exceed twenty-five.

(2) The Minister for Agriculture may make regulations in relation to the issue of such licences as are mentioned in the foregoing sub-section of this section for the purpose of securing to persons who held such licences in the year 1934 a preferential right to purchase such licences before the commencement of the open season for fishing under such licences in any year in which the number of such licences is limited by this Act.

Prohibition of snap nets.

24. —After the passing of this Act no licence shall be issued under the Fisheries Acts, 1842 to 1925, for fishing with a snap net in the tidal waters of the River Shannon within the meaning of those Acts.

Prohibition of taking fish with a net.

25. —(1) It shall not be lawful for any person (other than a person and the successors in title of a person who, during the period of twelve months immediately preceding the passing of this Act, has lawfully exercised a right of fishing with nets or a net in the fresh waters hereinafter mentioned) to fish for, catch, or take or attempt to catch or take fish (other than eels) with a net of any kind in the fresh waters of the River Shannon within the meaning of the Fisheries Acts, 1842 to 1925.

(2) The foregoing sub-section of this section shall not apply to or render unlawful the use of a landing net solely as an auxiliary to lawful angling with rod and line or the use of a landing or other net for the purpose of lawfully removing fish from a lawful fishing weir.

(3) Every person who fishes for, catches or takes or attempts to catch or take fish in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds, or at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two months, and shall also in either case forfeit every net, boat and other instrument used in the commission of such offence.

(4) An offence under this section may be prosecuted at the suit of the Board or of the board of conservators within whose district the offence is committed.